Product Evaluation: A Hairdryer

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Product Evaluation: A Hairdryer

Introduction.

I am a 4th year student in St Patrick's Grammar school Downpatrick

studying technology and design for my GCSE. I must do two focused

tasks, my first task is a product evaluation, for this task I will be

evaluating a hairdryer manufactured by Vidal Sassoon.

Justification.

I picked this appliance because:

Ÿ It is a commonly used household object.

Ÿ I have this appliance in my house so I can look at it whilst testing

it against my specification.

Ÿ It is a unisex appliance used by all age groups.

Ÿ I am interested to find out how this appliance actually works.

Ÿ It fit's the criteria which is:

It must have an element of control.

It must have a power source.

It must be a technological product.

Safety.

Plastic is used to make the casing of the hairdryer. Plastic is an

excellent insulator which does not conduct electricity, heat and is

also waterproof. It will not reshape with high temperatures. The

electric element which is housed well inside the hairdryer does not

come in contact with wet hair. An additional feature of this hairdryer

is that it has an automatic safety cut-off facility. If there is any

danger to the user or if it heats up above a certain temperature the

trip switch located in the electric meter box switches. There are

square shaped grids at both ends of the appliance. These grids prevent

hair from the user getting sucked inside the appliance. The grids also

prevent dust from getting into the appliance and onto the element. The

cable connected to the rear of the handle is well insulated. It is

also quite flexible, which help...

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into shape.

The heating element has to conduct electricity and heat, so it will be

made of a suitable metal. This metal element/core, has to be able to

be worked into complex shapes. So obviously it is going to be a light

gauge metal and the beat conductor of electricity and heat. Through

science, I know that copper is the best conductor of electricity, but

the disadvantage is that it tends to be expensive.

Aesthetics.

The overall colour scheme is silver at the nozzle and maroon at the

handle. The buttons and wiring are black. The plastic has a shiny high

quality finish, it gets this from the compression moulding and the

properties of the plastic. The metallic material on the nozzle also

has a high quality finish. The shape of the hairdryer is like a hand

gun. All the edges on the hairdryer are curved.

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